Teachers: Wooster, a district with class

Meghan Braun went to her class this morning; a teacher in the room, friendly and polite, told Braun to have a seat.

The only problem -- Braun herself is a teacher. The other teacher did a double take and realized Braun was one of the district's new staff additions.

Wednesday was Braun's first first day of school, graduating last spring from St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y. One of 57 fresh faces to the district this year, Braun will teach physical education at Wooster High School. Of the 57, 10 are support staff, 41 are teachers and six are tutors.

With all the new hires, director of personnel David Burnison has been a busy man. "I guessed 16, 20 at the most. A few people left that we were not anticipating, and we created a few new positions, out of the work of the budget task force," he said.

News reports seem to churn out daily about the shortage of teachers, and all of them leaving the profession for better-paying jobs.

Burnison said he curbed that trend by getting out early and touting Wooster's reputation, starting salary, facilities and support network. Wooster may have to work harder because of a teacher shortage, but you won't find evidence of a shortage here. For Wooster, the hiring process began early last spring, getting some quality people committed to contracts early and hitting the job fairs.

Braun, originally from Rochester, N.Y., heard about Wooster at a teacher recruitment fair. For now, she lives in Cleveland Heights, committed to a lease, but plans to move to the area next year. "Everyone told me what a great district this was to be in, and the community itself. It's definitely worth the drive," she said.

Wooster's starting salary for teachers is $28,511. While that's at the top of the ladder in the area, can it compete with Baltimore's $32,000?

Burnison said more than ever, teacher recruitment is a national game. Baltimore and other urban districts are taking cash from the top tier of salaries and "pushing money down" to starting salaries, in hopes of competing with suburban districts for new teachers.

Along with higher starting salaries, urban districts are using another technique to compete, one Burnison would like to use to boost diversity in Wooster's teaching force.

More and more recruiters are being given the authority to sign new teachers on the spot at job fairs, bypassing the usual round of interviews by administrators and principals. It is something Burnison said he will broach with Superintendent David Estrop and the school board.

"I met a young Asian woman, who was a science teacher, coming right out of school. We probably would have had her here if we could have gotten a contract with her that day. Having the authority to do that can really help with minority recruitment," Burnison said.

It is an area in which Burnison said the district needs improvement.

"Diversity is one of our district goals, and we need to increase the number of candidates of diverse backgrounds. We have a great need to bring more African-Americans to our teaching force. It's important to students that they see people of their own backgrounds and race as role models," Burnison said.

However, the teachers who are here are happy they picked Wooster.

Ryan Dye, a new science teacher at the high school, was offered a job last year but couldn't be released from a contract. Dye will teach integrated science in the ninth and 10th grades and coach varsity wrestling.

"I've been in schools where they give you your books and room, and say 'OK.' What I've found here is a lot of comradery, teamwork. It's fantastic how Wooster runs things," Dye said.

With a degree in physics, Dye is in high demand in and out of teaching, but he follows his heart. "I could take my physics degree to private industry and make more money. But the question is whether I would enjoy it or not. That's what's keeping me around," he said.

New high school special education teacher Sarah Dunlap said she's had a welcoming, smooth transition, coming from another district. She coaches seventh grade volleyball as well.

"It's helping me get to know lots of other people, and people on a more personal level. It's time consuming, but I enjoy it," Dunlap said.

The district has had an extensive teacher mentoring program in place for 10 years. Two years ago, Ohio began requiring all districts to have a program in place and used Wooster as one of its models. Teacher mentors are trained and meet weekly with all new teaches, not just those new to teaching, Burnison said. The program is so popular, it is now part of the collective bargaining agreement with the teacher's union. "We all understand it's a valuable tool to keep people in the profession," Burnison said.

The district sees the hiring process as a "lifelong investment," Burnison said, because the teachers who come to Wooster tend to stay. Many of those hired have between five and 10 years of experience with other school systems, something that helps buck the trend of teachers leaving the profession. If teachers are going to get out, they tend to do it early in their careers. But after a few years, they have made their commitment to the profession.

With an ever-challenging curriculum and ever-changing technology, teachers are given the resources to help students succeed, Burnison said. "We invest heavily in staff development. It's one of my goals to align that investment more with our building and district continuos improvement goals. If we're going to spend the money, we need to make the most of it," he said.